December 2025 sees some big tumbles and power-ups in the World Skateboarding Ranking: the double-whammy of Kitakyushu’s points addition and OQS Shanghai dropping out of the 18-month rolling window has seen shake-ups which will impact everything from national team choices to pre-seeded qualification headed into 2026; here’s our pick of the results stories from a wild week in Japan!
Ranking Hoppers: Men's Street
Joe Hinson jumps 19 positions to 36th
A WST-best 12th place for the plucky Englishman who’s previous highest placing was 13th at WST Lausanne back in 2023.
Wallace Gabriel blows way up from 78th to 24th
Only his second WST stop and already into his first final, Brazil has got strength in depth!
João Lucas re-enters the top flight in 47th position
A welcome return to the top flight for and his first semifinal finish in 3 years!
Taiga Nagai leaps 76 places to 33rd position
A first-ever semifinal finish for the Japanese 19-year old- and on his birthday, too!
Juni Kang halves his distance from the top spot by leaping 19 places to 18th
Second WST contest and already a finalist: Korea’s frighteningly talented newcomer looks like being a threat for years to come.
Daniel Woolley jumps 25 places to 38th
A confidence- building first semifinal result for Park Olympian Kieran’s younger brother, who impressed all with his solidness. Needed a full run in the semis, but held his own in Best Trick!
Deivid Tuesta delivers on his promise to rise 27 spots to 17th
Discovered as part of our Youth Athlete Development programme, Peru’s powerful underdog proved he could mix it with the best during his first finals. Now his nation's highest-ranked skateboarder!
Yukito Aoki back in the top ten- up eight positions to 9th
An emphatic return to form for the big man who floats like a butterfly and stings the rails like a bee. Made the case for his inclusion in the WST's most competitive team.
Kairi Netsuke halves his rank from 8th to 4th
A superb second place for Kairi included one of the best runs of all time and a heelflip back tail bigspin out on the hubba for Best Trick. A stellar performance from a former winner.
Sora Shirai tops the leaderboard once again
The master returns to his natural home in pole position on the WST. Another come from behind victory for a skateboarder in a league of their own.
Jake Ilardi enters the top twenty: up two places to 19th
Another solid semifinals performance for the Floridian who looked pin-sharp all week and looks finals-bound. Bigspin front blunts on handrails every single time are a mark of greatness.
Mauro Iglesias reverses his slide by going up nineteen spots to 22nd
A leap of 19 positions for Argentina’s Maurito after his best result since Street Skateboarding Rome back in 2022. Missed the finals cut by a smidgen, but looked every part the pro.
Ranking Hoppers: Women's Street
Chloe Covell's latest podium puts her up three positions to 4th
Fought back from an off-pace Run section to claim third with the hghest-scoring Best Trick of the Women’s division!
Ibuki Matsumoto dominates to jump from tenth place to 5th
From only joining the Tour in March ’24 to outright victory in November ’25- what’s in the water in Japan??
Yumeka Oda takes over the top spot in her division, jumping four places into 1st
A superbly polished performance from the 2023 World Champ- two full runs and an 89.22 Best Trick. Her most assured performance to date- she may not have grabbed the headlines, but her Japanese teammates will have seen that she has no weak spots in her game.
Nanami Onishi edges up two spots to 11th
A first finals appearance for the greatly-improved Japanese 15-year old. She has space to improve her Run game, but her NBD backside 50-50 to kickflip out blew the lid off the contest!
Valentina Krauel consolidates her place on the leaderboard: up four to 22nd
A second back-to-back semifinals appearance for Spain’s stealth weapon has stabilised her position in the rankings. A little Best Trick luck could take her a long way!
Jiyul Shin goes straight in at 15th
The debut discovery of the entire contest: front blunt shove on a handrail, flip back lip on a rainbow rail and tailslide on a hubba in a single 45-second run. Ened up less than a point off podium at first time of asking: a star is born.
Yuanling Zhu deepens her top 20 run: up four to 16th
China’s ultra- impressive switch pioneer opened Runs with a switch frontside 50-50 on the hubba in Best Trick to her perfect opening run, and made a female NBD switch frontside nosegrind on the handrail in her first finals. Don’t sleep!
Evie Pritchard enters the chat, shooting into 36th
WST debut and a semifinals berth for the young Canadian: had to wait until her second run to make everything gel and while she added her second best trick attempt to her tally it was not yet enough to carry her through to finals- but Canada have dealt themselves back into Women’s Street with her.
Laura Zackova bolsters European representation in the top flight: up eight spots to 21st
A first-ever semifinals finish for the occasionally-nervous looking Czech 15-year-old, who made the tactically astute move to bank her last Best Trick attempt with a go-to for 13th while others landed none. A great stepping-stone performance for her.
All photos: Kenji Haruta
More WST Kitayushu background reading can be found here!